Megalomaniac Donald Trump's rise an indictment of US

IS it not ironic that the odious and bombastic Donald Trump - infamous for his monosyllabic, hate-speech - has garnered sufficient popular support to be the leading presidential candidate for the party of Lincoln?

IS it not ironic that the odious and bombastic Donald Trump - infamous for his monosyllabic, hate-speech - has garnered sufficient popular support to be the leading presidential candidate for the party of Lincoln?

Trump is the product of the morally bankrupt American socio-economic system, which rewards the most Machiavellian as so-called "winners" at the expense of social cohesion and a shared humanity.

Trump and his fellow Republicans jostle for pre-eminence on how best to seal the borders to prevent another San Bernardino massacre, where 14 citizens were slaughtered, while obstructing gun control that might mitigate some of the 15,000 firearm-related homicides annually in the US.

These same republicans prevaricate about discredited trickle-down economics and advocate tax breaks for the highest earners, despite egregious income inequality, where wealth concentration in the top 1% exceeds that of the entire lower 90%.

Republicans also seek to repeal, or eviscerate, what they derisively refer to as "Obamacare" - affordable healthcare for 45 million of America's most vulnerable citizens - and petulantly persist with gridlock in Washington until the White House is restored to its rightful heirs, the Grand Old Party.